I love when my students listen to my not-so-subtle hint to bring edible things to our macro-photography sessions. Someone made these caramel/chocolate/sprinkle-covered popcorn balls just for class, and I got to take some home.
I made basic adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw. In Photoshop I use the Spot Healing Brush to remove some unwanted spots.
This is what happened when I was making breakfast this morning. I did not stage this. I guess when your breakfast smiles at you, it’s a sign that you’re in for a good day.
I made basic adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw. I used the Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop to remove unwanted smudges on the stove top. I then added a curves adjustment layer.
There seems to be a morale issue within the ranks of my gummy bear army. Perhaps I am pushing them too much. I didn’t notice the humorous problem with this photo until I looked at it on the computer. Can you tell what it is?
I strongly suggest to my photography students that they should bring edible items to our macro sessions because it doubles our fun since food is fun to shoot and fun to eat after you shoot it. I love when they listen to me because they show up with candy, cupcakes, chocolate treats and other goodies. Yesterdays class featured cheesecake and strawberries with chocolate sauce as well as these gummy bears.
The image was taken with a 90mm Tamron macro lens and a studio strobe. I only made basic adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw and cropped it to fit the frame better.
Fresh fruit makes me think of the neighborhood I grew up in on the south side of Chicago. We had the last two peddlers in the city who would make their rounds on Wednesdays. One of them was a jolly fellow named Pinchy (short for Pinchovsky). He drove a big blue truck with a red cab that had shelves of fruits and vegetable in the back and a scale. When strawberries were in season, he’d carry an entire case of them into the house and sit down with my mother to take her order for the week. She’d ask questions like, “How’s the lettuce today?” … He’d say,”Beautiful!” That was his answer for everything. And if my mother found something not to be up to his or her standards, he would refund her money or replace the product the following week. I remember watching him weigh everything my mother ordered and place each item separately into a paper bag.
My sister has her kitchen decorated in a strawberry theme. Once while on the phone with her, she explained how hard it was to find strawberry items to add to her collection. I asked her if she wanted me to photograph some strawberries so she’d have something to hang in her kitchen. She said yes, so I went to the store and did just that to create this collage.
I photographed the strawberries outside on my back patio with my macro lens, and I used a diffuser to soften the harsh light. Each image is a separate layer in Photoshop placed on a canvas.
Michael J. Pach 